Be Your Own Hero

Starlight sat alone on a park bench, staring into space.

Today was supposed to be her second day as an official member of the Seven. When she woke up, she had received a message from Ashley, the vice president's assistant, telling her to attend the team's first routine meeting since its reorganization at eight sharp.

It was now eight ten.

Just yesterday, Starlight had vowed to do the work a superhero was meant to do and never let her parents or the public down. Yet on her first day on the job, she had failed to arrive on time for what was, in all likelihood, a roundtable meeting called especially for her.

Starlight was avoiding something. It wasn't The Deep; it was this ugly reality.

She had blasted The Deep away last night, sending him falling from a height of dozens of meters. But he was a superhero, far tougher than an ordinary person, and had suffered only minor injuries.

Besides, Starlight didn't think she had done anything wrong. Given ten thousand more chances, she would blast The Deep away without hesitation every time.

What Starlight was avoiding was a reality she desperately didn't want to face, one that went against everything she believed in.

If The Deep was the only superhero hiding an ugly side beneath a heroic exterior, Starlight could have accepted that.

But what if the other members of the Seven—even Homelander—were hypocrites too...

What a terrifying thought.

And where would that leave her?

Starlight had once been completely confident that she would become the perfect superhero, living by her creed of "saving the world" to the very end.

Now that confidence had begun to waver.

If everyone around her was mired in the mud, how could she keep herself clean?

And how could she be sure she wouldn't be dragged in with them?

As Starlight sank deeper into self-doubt, someone sat down beside her on the bench.

Luke came to this park every morning to exercise.

A ten-kilometer run was one of the nonnegotiable goals he had set himself.

Though he was already strong enough, he stuck to that training plan every day, rain or shine.

As he finished his usual ten-kilometer run along the park paths and prepared to head home, he happened to spot a familiar figure on a bench beside the path.

Starlight sat there looking dejected, staring into space.

Luke had watched the live broadcast of Starlight's introduction on television yesterday. She had been so full of confidence when she gave her speech onstage.

Now she seemed like a different person.

Something bad must have happened in between.

So Luke sat down beside her.

"Being a hero must be pretty hard, huh?" Luke said.

Starlight snapped out of her daze and saw a bald man sitting next to her.

She remembered him. She had seen him in the waiting area outside the conference hall a few days ago, during the interviews for the hero selection. She had nothing against baldness, but his shiny head had left quite an impression.

"Yeah," Starlight said wistfully. "It really is."

Thinking of what The Deep had done to her last night, she added, "Superheroes aren't quite what I imagined."

"How so?" Luke asked.

Though The Deep's image had crumbled in her eyes, Starlight decided to keep his secret rather than make last night's events public.

If she did, The Deep's reputation would be ruined, while she and Vought International would be caught in a storm of public opinion.

Things might turn out even worse. The Deep was a veteran hero who had earned considerable public trust. If he flatly denied it and accused her instead, neither the public nor Vought International would necessarily take her side.

So when Luke asked, all she could do was answer vaguely. "I used to think the people at the very top of the superhero world had to be devoted to justice through and through. But now I realize they might just have been born powerful. In every other way, they're no different from ordinary people."

Luke couldn't have agreed more.

Some people called themselves heroes without the slightest idea of what being one meant.

"You're right. Some people don't deserve to be heroes," Luke said. "They're worse than ordinary people."

He didn't name names, but one person came to mind.

What kind of damn hero won't even pay for his duck-leg rice?

"But I believe in you. You'll be someone worthy of the name 'hero,'" Luke said earnestly.

Luke could tell Starlight genuinely saw being a superhero as her calling. Both her confident vows before and her self-doubt now showed how badly she wanted to be the best hero she could be.

He wasn't saying it to comfort her. He meant every word.

A little light returned to Starlight's eyes, and she looked at Luke with a trace of gratitude.

"Thank you."

"What about you? What kind of hero do you want to be?" Starlight asked, suddenly curious.

She knew Luke wanted to become a superhero too, since he had taken part in the selection.

"Me?" Luke thought for a moment. "I just want to be my own hero."

Starlight stared at Luke. She didn't know why, but when he said that, she suddenly thought this bald man was genuinely cool.

That's right. Be your own hero, and let everyone else talk.

Never mind what anyone else does. Just follow your heart.

Everything suddenly became clear to Starlight.

Vought International, the roundtable conference room.

The room was unusually quiet. The sound of Homelander tapping the table echoed around the room.

Homelander looked displeased.

A mere newcomer had shown up late on her first day, leaving him and the rest of the Seven waiting a full half hour.

She's got some nerve.

The conference room doors slowly opened.

Starlight walked in as though nothing were wrong. She paid no attention to Homelander's faintly angry expression and seemed not to notice the flicker of panic in The Deep's eyes.

She walked straight to her chair and sat down, perfectly composed.

"Sorry I'm late," Starlight said, looking around at them.

"Very good. Very good." Homelander clapped as he walked toward Starlight.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear. "Can you explain why you're late?"

Starlight could hear the hostility in Homelander's voice.

At the same time, she frowned.

She could clearly feel the hand on her shoulder beginning to tighten.

An overpowering force pressed down on her shoulder. Starlight could even hear her bones creaking under the strain.

She had every reason to believe that if she failed to give him a satisfactory explanation, Homelander would crush her shoulder without hesitation.